Australian National University, Canberra 8-11 July 2009
Full Session Guide and Campus Map (6 July 2009) The full Session Guide giving details of all conference events is now available for download (PDF). This will also be included in the conference showbags. There is also a Campus Map to assist you in finding your way to the conference venues. Revised Draft Program (26 June 2009) There have been a few more minor changes since the last update: revised Daily Session Guide (PDF) and Session by Session Guide (PDF) are now online. Revised Draft Program (19 June 2009) A revised Draft Conference Program (PDF) and Daily Session Guide (PDF) are now online. We have also added a Session by Session Guide (PDF) which gives titles of papers in each session. There have been a number of changes to the program since the last version; we have tried to confirm changes with presenters, but please check your name, paper title and session time carefully. People who have agreed to chair sessions should also check their session time, as it may have changed. Please notify Russell Smith immediately of any problems. Registration Registration is now open. Please go to the Registration page to register. PLEASE NOTE : Earlybird registration has been extended for one week to 7 June 2009. Call for Papers (Closed) KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Leigh Dale, Ken Gelder, Philip Mead GUEST WRITERS INCLUDE: Marion Halligan, Christopher Koch, Shane Maloney, Kim Scott Australian literature is not just a collection of texts: it is a diverse set of formal and informal cultures—from school curricula to bestseller lists, from university courses to writers' festivals—that all have their own ways of talking about texts and their own forms of cultural expertise. This conference seeks to explore the diversity of readers and modes of reading that make up Australian literary culture. How do ‘everyday' readers form judgements about what they read and what they like? What are the relationships between everyday readers and ‘specialist' readers in industries such as publishing and marketing, print and electronic media, and in institutions such as schools and universities, libraries and archives? How much influence do critics, reviewers and cultural commentators have on readers' tastes and habits—and vice versa? Who ultimately decides what books get published, what books win prizes, what books are taught in schools, and what books make up the Australian literary canon? Literary cultures are characterised by tensions between tradition and innovation, reading privately and reading professionally, reading for knowledge and reading for pleasure. We invite proposals for 20-minute papers and for 90-minute panel discussions (3 or 4 speakers) that address any aspect of literary cultures, such as the following: Everyday readers and the history of the popular / literary cultural divide The role of reviewers and critics in influencing tastes and making careers The roles of publishers, marketers, booksellers and bestseller lists Literary festivals and writers as performers and promoters of their own work The role and influence of literary prizes Reading communities such as book clubs, blogs, community education Histories and analyses of Australian literary criticism School and university curricula and the Australian literary canon Revisions and re-evaluations of canonical and non-canonical Australian writers and texts Adaptations of Australian literary texts for film and other media The transnational boundaries of Australian literature Australian children's and young adult literature: publishing and readerships Libraries, archives and cultural heritage Creative writing programs Little magazines, grassroots publishing, zines Reading facebook and other social networking programs The new empiricism, distant reading, resourceful reading The ongoing impact of the 'culture wars' ASAL 2009 organising committee: Julieanne Lamond, Lucy Neave, Monique Rooney and Russell Smith (School of Humanities, Australian National University)
ASAL 2009 is generously supported by:
Last updated: March 12, 2009